ARK: State of the Game

[ftbllguy2]

YEESSSSS, this is the State of the Game I was waiting for! First of all your solution for the server thing is frickin amazing. Newbies can start fresh, so can the vets, and anyone who wants to keep their shiz is more than welcome, well done guys, impressive solution. I CAN'T WAIT for that PS4 optimization update on Friday either. Ragnarok is looking awesome too and its great how you've stuck to your guns and any early access peeps like me will still be getting it for FREE. I really think you guys are potentially changing the way games are going to be developed with such an open interface with your community, its cool to see. OK, last compliment, I promise, way to stick it out though, setbacks and angry people were everywhere and yet here we are, congrats on finishing and I can't wait to play your finished game!

[TraumaHound]

So will we be able to host our own Console server on our own hardware then, rather than having to rent it? I have some perfectly powerful hardware running linux.

[Zzero187]

Oh I def believe they will have Rag fully released on Aug 8th, also fully bugged and screwed up. Just because you release the second half of the map does not make it fully released WC. That and doesn't surprise me at all that while this game needs tons and tons of fixing, they are busy working on their VR game, Ark Park. That is like calling off every other day at your workplace, then asking for more hours. WC devs must train at the same place as Ubisoft devs...

[RickPenor]

Thank you for the update. Looking forward to Ragnarok being ready. I would rather wait than have a version that does not work correctly.

[St1ckyBandit]

1 hour ago, Zzero187 said:

Oh I def believe they will have Rag fully released on Aug 8th, also fully bugged and screwed up. Just because you release the second half of the map does not make it fully released WC. That and doesn't surprise me at all that while this game needs tons and tons of fixing, they are busy working on their VR game, Ark Park. That is like calling off every other day at your workplace, then asking for more hours. WC devs must train at the same place as Ubisoft devs...

Well HOPEFULLY with disc submission out of the way we can begin to get some serious progess with the game over the next 2 1/2 weeks.

[FeererFactor]

@Jat 

I was wondering if the pc hosted servers will allow the consoles to take advantage of the mods on your sponsored mod program.

I know it might be a bit soon to ask but any info on that would be killer.

Thank you guys for the hard work and looking forward for the next 2 years of this game to see how it evolves.

[LonelySky]

 XoxoxoxoX

[Bigdaddy99]

1 hour ago, St1ckyBandit said:

Well HOPEFULLY with disc submission out of the way we can begin to get some serious progess with the game over the next 2 1/2 weeks.

I heard a rumor that their primary focus right now, was on the xbox1x and their vr game, Ark Park.......I have no way of knowing if there is any truth to it, but that would account for a lot of time and resources....

 

[ciabattaroll]

46 minutes ago, Bigdaddy99 said:

I heard a rumor that their primary focus right now, was on the xbox1x and their vr game, Ark Park.......I have no way of knowing if there is any truth to it, but that would account for a lot of time and resources....

 

It's very much a rumor because Studio Wildcard are merely consulting for ARK Park. It's as much "their game" as Dark and Light is, which is to say, not their game at all.

[Bigdaddy99]

Just now, ciabattaroll said:

It's very much a rumor because Studio Wildcard are merely consulting for ARK Park. It's as much "their game" as Dark and Light is, which is to say, not their game at all.

Thanks for dispelling that.....I've seen so much crap flying around the last 2 days, it's hard to know what to believe.....

[Rhoades9687]

Yes that's great but what about those of us who still can't get into their servers. I.e. eu-xboxofficial19 pvp  it's been three days how about an update about why and when can I get on my game... Glad we're not getting wiped but no one in my tribe or any of the other tribes can get into the game. I don't understand why we policed or server so no one cheated or trolled we also tried our best to help the New players. Plz fix ASAP

[AGB15]

Thanks for all your hard work! 

[TAYCARE]

On 7/19/2017 at 10:12 AM, Chadstacca said:

so you wont be able to transfer from Legacy to New?

correct, so those all in favor of the wipe, here's your chance to start fresh 

[AveryStiffBacon]

Do you have an exact time that this will arive i understand it is coming on the 8th but will it be available at midnight or none or 11 pm.  If you could give me a time zone too that would help. This way i can take off work at a correct time. 

[Captnmorgan]

24 minutes ago, AveryStiffBacon said:

Do you have an exact time that this will arive i understand it is coming on the 8th but will it be available at midnight or none or 11 pm.  If you could give me a time zone too that would help. This way i can take off work at a correct time. 

I think it will depend on your region and platform but they have not announced any times yet. Maybe as it nears aug 8th. But for now just hang tight.

[Wolf13]

How do you use commandsin ark xbox one?????

[GP]

7 minutes ago, Wolf13 said:

How do you use commandsin ark xbox one?????

On the pause screen you need to do this: LB+RB+X+Y together.

[Cabuloso]

Will happen a merge in the future? Its pretty weird to have 2 total separate clusters. Is there another way to deal with mega tribe dupers? All new players and recently wiped tribes will move.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Cabuloso

[ZRISTWI10]

1 minute ago, Cabuloso said:

Will happen a merge in the future? Its perty weird to have 2 total separate clusters. Is there another way to deal with mega tribe dupers?

This is exactly what I've been saying. I get ripped in these forums because their solution "works for everyone" so why am I not grateful for the decision? ..... but really it divides the community and the player base. 

[Cabuloso]

4 minutes ago, ZRISTWI10 said:

This is exactly what I've been saying. I get ripped in these forums because their solution "works for everyone" so why am I not grateful for the decision? ..... but really it divides the community and the player base. 

The solution doesnt work for those that doesnt dupe and have several things that dont want to leave behind. Lots of colors and mutations... Start all over again with stone axes? Now we have 2 options, stick with duper mega tribes to not lose our stuff or start fresh all over again with new players, well, dont want any of those options.

[Cassian]

7 minutes ago, Cabuloso said:

All new players and recently wiped tribes will move.

That's the idea.  Not so much with the recently wiped tribes, but if you want to be able to hurt other players, you need to be able to take some hurt in return.  Not going to feel bad about someone getting wiped in PvP.  That is what they signed up for.  Cheaters, on the other hand, should have their product key revoked to keep them from being able to join any official server.  Their existing characters and tames should all be deleted as well, and if chat log or other records show that their tribe mates were complicit, the tribe should be disbanded and the members made unable to join or ally with one another.

For the record, new players won't move.  New players will play on new servers.  In the past, I bought a game that I thought was less than a week old, installed it, updated it, made my character, jumped into the game, and quickly discovered that there were people playing who were already at "end game" status.  Turns out, the game had been released in Japan over a year before it got released in the US.  Thankfully, the game was not PvP.  But the only reason I can see for an existing PvP player to want the new players flooding his server is so he can unleash his inner schoolyard bully.  Well,... too bad.  And if the legacy PvP servers become ghost towns, then perhaps the players who have to move will be a little less aggressive and a little more friendly on their next server.

For some of us, the joy in online gaming comes from establishing a community, not from destroying one.  I wouldn't mind PvP so much, except that a lot of very insecure people use it as an excuse to act out their fantasies of being the biggest, baddest, bully in the schoolyard.  Such actions (and attitudes) have consequences, and you don't always get to choose them or even know what they are beforehand.

As for "dividing the player base", they did that as soon as they offered the game up for public preview, prior to the official release.  What they've actually done is help level the playing field for the new players (although their lack of experience with the game will still give them a severe disadvantage).  The player base has already been divided in many different ways, in order to allow the individual players to play the type of game they want to play.  Many software companies would do well to follow suit.  If you don't want a divided player base, then by all means... let's do away with PvP, make everyone play PvE, and just to keep everyone on the same playing field, let's make everything Prim+.  Ridiculous?  Of course it is.  And so is asking someone to buy a brand new game, just to find out that they are competing for resources (land, dinos, and actual resources) with people who have been on the server for a couple months, a year, or even longer.  One of the great things about the game, especially PvE, is the opportunity to build.  Why do people want to deny that to the new players?  I'm not a big believer is "safe spaces", but in this case, they need it, they are getting it, and they should.  Feel free to continue complaining about it, though.  Whatever makes you happy!   

[Cassian]

17 minutes ago, Cabuloso said:

The solution doesnt work for those that doesnt dupe and have several things that dont want to leave behind. Lots of colors and mutations... Start all over again with stone axes? Now we have 2 options, stick with duper mega tribes to not lose our stuff or start fresh all over again with new players, well, dont want any of those options.

So I have to ask... what DO you want?  If you don't want to start over, then wiping is a bad option.  But you don't want to be stuck with these mega tribes, either.  But you don't want to start over.  And you don't want new players to have a place to build on that isn't already highly developed.

I'd love to see WC implement a more proactive approach to cheating within the game.  Other MMOs I've played waited too long before doing so, and by the time they did so (and let the players know about it), the game had already entered into a free fall.  So yes, I'd love to see them take a VERY active role in investigating and punishing cheaters, but that isn't what we're talking about here.  We're discussing the State of the Game when it gets released in a couple of weeks, and how WC plans on dealing with the flood of new players we'll be seeing.  You don't like their solution, but your reasons imply that you don't like the other solutions that were presented, either.

 

So.... what do you propose?  Let's see how well-received your solution is.  Or do you even have one?   

[ZRISTWI10]

5 minutes ago, Cassian said:

That's the idea.  Not so much with the recently wiped tribes, but if you want to be able to hurt other players, you need to be able to take some hurt in return.  Not going to feel bad about someone getting wiped in PvP.  That is what they signed up for.  Cheaters, on the other hand, should have their product key revoked to keep them from being able to join any official server.  Their existing characters and tames should all be deleted as well, and if chat log or other records show that their tribe mates were complicit, the tribe should be disbanded and the members made unable to join or ally with one another.

For the record, new players won't move.  New players will play on new servers.  In the past, I bought a game that I thought was less than a week old, installed it, updated it, made my character, jumped into the game, and quickly discovered that there were people playing who were already at "end game" status.  Turns out, the game had been released in Japan over a year before it got released in the US.  Thankfully, the game was not PvP.  But the only reason I can see for an existing PvP player to want the new players flooding his server is so he can unleash his inner schoolyard bully.  Well,... too bad.  And if the legacy PvP servers become ghost towns, then perhaps the players who have to move will be a little less aggressive and a little more friendly on their next server.

For some of us, the joy in online gaming comes from establishing a community, not from destroying one.  I wouldn't mind PvP so much, except that a lot of very insecure people use it as an excuse to act out their fantasies of being the biggest, baddest, bully in the schoolyard.  Such actions (and attitudes) have consequences, and you don't always get to choose them or even know what they are beforehand.

As for "dividing the player base", they did that as soon as they offered the game up for public preview, prior to the official release.  What they've actually done is help level the playing field for the new players (although their lack of experience with the game will still give them a severe disadvantage).  The player base has already been divided in many different ways, in order to allow the individual players to play the type of game they want to play.  Many software companies would do well to follow suit.  If you don't want a divided player base, then by all means... let's do away with PvP, make everyone play PvE, and just to keep everyone on the same playing field, let's make everything Prim+.  Ridiculous?  Of course it is.  And so is asking someone to buy a brand new game, just to find out that they are competing for resources (land, dinos, and actual resources) with people who have been on the server for a couple months, a year, or even longer.  One of the great things about the game, especially PvE, is the opportunity to build.  Why do people want to deny that to the new players?  I'm not a big believer is "safe spaces", but in this case, they need it, they are getting it, and they should.  Feel free to continue complaining about it, though.  Whatever makes you happy!   

that's why the answer should have been wipe all servers.

[Cassian]

Just now, ZRISTWI10 said:

that's why the answer should have been wipe all servers.

Truth is, I'd have been okay with that.  I'd have mourned the loss of the base I'd been working on, and the loss of some of the dinos I'd established a bit of a bond to, but the chance to start from scratch is very appealing.  And the option is there, for people who want to take it.  Me?  Unlikely.  As appealing as it is, it has also taken me several months to get to where I'm at, and the idea of having to rebuild everything from scratch is not that exciting.  And I've only been playing for a couple of months.

You focus a lot on the dupers, but what about legitimate players who have been playing for the last year or two?  Do we punish them, delete everything they've worked on for the last couple of years, just because you want an even playing field against the people who cheat?  It reminds me of the Gun Control debate.  Let's make laws that make it harder for everyone to own guns because people who break the law are using them to hurt people.  The same story is here... while they will hurt the people who dupe, they will hurt everyone else as well, and unless WC dedicates some employees to a type of "police force" for the game, even with their code improvements, the cheaters will find a way to cheat (duping or otherwise).

I applaud WC's decision not to punish all the existing players, just to hurt the few people who don't have the necessary skill level or maturity to play and compete in a game without cheating.  If you're that desperate to win at something, I'm afraid I have some bad news...

[Bulldogfrag]

PS4 patch still coming out this evening??